Review of Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk (2008) by Dennis W — 03 Jun 2009

Though well-intentioned and enjoyable, this film's loose direction detracts from its amazing visuals.

As expected with an OmniMAX presentation, there is plenty to see. While perhaps not surprising in most ways, the film crew captures tons of great footage including sweeping vistas of the Grand Canyon, majestic shots of lakes and dams, intimate pans of the rock walls and dozens of nuances that take the viewer along for the ride down the Colorado.

Unfortunately, the point of the documentary seemed to be buried somewhere between all of the adventure. It's not impossible to figure out what the "point" of the piece was (conserving water = good), but that concept came across rather secondarily. There was talk of African water shortages, a few minutes given to discussion of an ancient Native American tribe's disappearance once their water source ran dry, and social scolding of the excessive water use in Las Vegas, but little storytelling, elaboration or detail. At the movie's end (amidst the credits), some tips for saving water are casually thrown in, as if for good measure.

This isn't to say that this piece isn't worth watching but instead to suggest that it's a different sort of documentary. There's plenty to see and enjoy, but not much to think about afterwards.